A common type of lighting fixture utilizes a light source with a reflecting element to produce a collimated or partially collimated beam of light. The reflective element may be spherical or parabolic in shape or may utilize Fresnel-type structures to simulate the operation of such reflectors. Typically the light source is mounted at the optical center of such a reflective element.
A problem common to such reflectors relates to the mounting of the light source. Because the light source is typically mounted in a fixture that extends through the reflective element, no reflections occur from directly behind the light source. As a result the light fixture does not produce uniform brightness over its entire surface. It will actually appear dimmer in the region closest to the light source. Furthermore surrounding the central dark region will be a bright band. The apparent brightness will then become progressively less toward the outer portions of the fixture. Thus such a light fixture will appear to have significant nonuniformities in brightness, with darker regions in the areas nearest to and farthest from the optical center of the light fixture.
Another problem with such lighting fixtures arises in their very common usage in automotive applications. Many countries have limitations on the amount or brightness of light emitted in particular directions by various lights on an automobile. For example "fill lights" between the headlights of a car must not emit more than a specified amount of light in a forward direction. This is to prevent obscuring the view of oncoming motorists. Some of the most reliable light sources, however, will exceed such safety standards if the efficiency of the reflector is too great. The efficiency of the reflector may be reduced by darkening portions thereof or by reducing the specular reflectivity of the mirror. Both of these solutions, however, tend to produce lighting fixtures that are less aesthetically pleasing.